Turn Up The Treble
by Invisi-Camryn
Summary: In Verona High School, the long-term feud between Band and Orchestra students dominates social interaction. Dean Winchester, the band's moody percussionist, thinks things are finally looking up for him when he meets Castiel, an all around interesting boy but his hopes come crashing down when he realizes that Castiel plays cello... in the school orchestra. Romeo and Juliet AU
1. Conflicts & Teenage Angst

"I can't believe those stupid band kids, leaving their instruments around _our_ practice space! The next time I see one of those slimy assholes, I'm going to smack them!"

"Come on Sydney, Principal Singer's keeping an eye on you; you almost got suspended last week!"

"But Greg, they just- ugh- they piss me off, with their lack of organization and etiquette! When my sister was in band- bless her soul- I went to one of their concerts, and it was delayed fifteen _whole _minutes, the nerve!"

"Look at him standing there, with his stupid French horn and his disgusting smirk, and he has the nerve to walk towards us!"

At the site of the approaching band member, Sydney raised her hand to her mouth, biting her thumb.

"Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?" an incredulous frown decorated the face of the young musician.

"No sir, I do not bit my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir," she retorted, an innocent smile with a hint of malice spreading across her face.

"Do you quarrel, sir?" Greg asked, unwilling to start a fight, but fully willing to participate.

"Quarrel, sir? No sir," the French horn player replied, mildly irritated by Sydney's aggressive mannerism.

"If you're trying to fight, orchestra is_ just_ as good as band," Sydney insisted, desperate to prove herself superior.

"But not better," the rival boy replied, smirking at her.

"Sydney, watch yourself. One of the juniors in band, Sam Winchester is coming," Greg warned.

"Actually, orchestra _is _better," Sydney replied, ignoring Greg's warning.

"You lie!" his voice dripped with defensive anger.  
"If you wanna go, then let's go!" Sydney's fist flew through the air, meeting the boy at his jaw. She was temporarily strangled as she was yanked back from her collar by none other than Sam Winchester.

"Break it up guys! Come on! You know Principal Singer has us _all_ on his radar, and these stupid fights aren't making things any better!" Sam hissed. His monologue was interrupted by the clicking of shoes against the tile floors.

"Tsk tsk, Sam Winchester, fighting with freshman," he turned around to see Gabriel, a dedicated member of the orchestra, leaning coyly against the wall, chuckling darkly. "If it's a fight you want, come face a real man!"

"Gabriel, come on! I'm just trying to keep the peace here, help me out!" Sam insisted in a worthless attempt to preserve his innocence.

"Last I saw, you had her by the collar. Sure as hell looks like a fight to me. Don't be a coward, _Sammy, _bring it on!" Gabriel taunted, moving towards Sam and throwing the first punch. In the heat of the moment, neither of them acknowledged the other teens in hallway and their aggressive slurs.

"The school should disband the orchestra and band!"

"You guys are ruining this school for everyone else!"

"Hell, they should get rid of the whole music department!"

"What do you think you're doing!" the senior leader of orchestra, Michael, stormed down the hallway, glaring at the two fighting musicians, with his junior friend, Zachariah, in tow. "Come on Michael, this will go on your permanent record! They can try you as an _adult_!"

From the opposite end of the hall, Lilith, a well respect senior in the band's circle, was attempting to hold back a furious Lucifer. "Stop it! He's trying to get you in trouble! This isn't worth it!"

"I've had enough!" the room dropped absolutely silent at the sound of Principal Singer's intense rage. "You orchestra and band kids aren't satisfied unless you're at each other's throats! Three times so far _this year,_ fights have broken out because you can't just keep the peace! If you every cause a disturbance at this school again, you will be suspended from school and _permanently _banned from any and all after-school activities. Now everybody, get out of here!"

The crowd dispersed, the whispers of gossip spread through the halls.

"What the fuck, Sam!" Lucifer strained his voice to what could hardly be considered a whisper.

"The freshman were fighting, I tried to stop it, and that asshole Gabriel showed up and provoked me, then proceeded to beat me up, and it kind of escalated from there," Sam looked at Lucifer sheepishly.

"And have you seen Dean at all? We need him to rehearse his percussion solo before our concert next week!" Lilith inquired, turning to Sam.

"Last I saw, he was sitting in the commons between the vending machines, beating them with pencils, probably writing another one of those pathetic love ballads for Lisa," Sam recalled, "and when I approached him, he walked away like he didn't see me."

"Damn, he spends so much time chasing his own tail with her, it's actually kind of sad," Lucifer admitted, shaking his head, "he's been trying to skip out on band practice too- hey, Sam, you should talk to him, he's your brother." Sam took that as his cue to leave and find his overly emotional brother.

He found him pacing through the locker bay, mumbling what seemed to be lyrics under his breath.

"Dean?" the older boy paused his pacing and faced his brother.

"Hey Sammy," his usual bright attitude was replaced with undertones of sadness.

"Damn, you really need to get over her," Sam muttered, more for his own ears than Dean's.

"What was that?" Dean inquired, curiosity overshadowing his obvious negativity.

"Nothing- so, um, how are you feeling?" Sam asked nervously, trying his best to make the conversation seem natural rather than awkward and forced.

"I just, I honestly care about her, Sam, and I try to make things work, but she's interested, and then she isn't, like my feelings are toys. We used to be so happy, do you remember sophomore year? She seemed to really love me back then…. What happened? Was it my fault?" Pain clouded Dean's eyes as he looked up at Sam. "She dumped me. Apparently, we're done for good. This is it, Sam."

"Well Dean, you don't-"

"She's said that before, and we got back together then, maybe there's still hope for us?"

"Dean. Stop it."

"But Sam-"

"Dean, you need to get over her! It just isn't healthy anymore."

"Maybe you're right, but I'll give her _one_ more chance to fix things. Then I'll be done with her, for good. I promise."

Sam sighed. "There's just no winning with you, is there Dean?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Get over it! She's not worth it, and she's not worth all of this! Just find someone new, there are other girls, find one of them, move on, do something for yourself for once!" Dean was more than a little shocked by Sam's outburst, but he attempted to disguise it.

"Fine, I'll give it a try if it's so important that I do," Dean sighed.

"Shit! I hate to interrupt this heart-to-heart, but I'm going to be late for my next class…. I'll see you later!" Sam started off down the hall, calling after him, "don't forget band practice tonight!"


	2. Crushes & Concerts

"I don't understand why Lucifer can't just calm down, he's ruining our reputation alongside his own. I couldn't care less what everyone thinks of him, but our orchestra has a good name to uphold, and that asshole can't just act like the senior he is!" Michael ranted, bitterness from the events from earlier still reflected in his tone and actions.

"Yeah, yeah, I get what you're saying, sucks pretty bad," Meg studied her nails, barely listening to Michael's complaints. "So back to Cas-"

"If you want to ask him out, that's your problem, Meg. I'm not going to sign him up for anything, I don't know why you even asked me in the first place," Michael sighed. While he was too polite to ask her to shut up, he was growing increasingly sick of her obsessive conversation about Castiel, one of the orchestra's cellists.

"I think I should go for it, what do you think? I think I'll ask him out at the pre-concert party tonight!" Meg concluded excitedly, the drastic change from her previous monotone quite obvious to Michael.

"Cool. I really _hate _to cut you off, but I have class to get to," Michael adjusted his grip on his binder, balancing the stack of materials expertly as he navigated the sea of bodies rushing to their next class. Meg trailed behind him, continuing her ramblings, oblivious to Michael's annoyance.

"I'm not saying you should completely move on, Dean, I'm just saying you shouldn't be so focused on comparing everyone to Lisa," Sam advised as he walked down the hall with his brother, heading in the direction of both of their next classes.

"I get that, I just need some time, okay Sam?" Dean frowned, losing himself in his own thoughts.

"There's an orchestra concert tonight, and some sort of party before the concert- I don't know why they wouldn't just throw it after- if you want to crash it. That usually seems to cheer you up…." Sam offered, mentally slapping himself over his suggestion.

"Yeah, that sounds good," a small smile danced on Dean's lips for a moment, "but what if Lisa's there? She has friends in orchestra." A scowl now decorated the place where the ghost of a smile had been seconds ago.

"You'll be having too much fun to care. The world doesn't revolve around Lisa. You can't pretend she doesn't go to this school- at least not successfully- but you can ignore her. You aren't acting like yourself anymore, Dean! You're so consumed in her. Whether she's there or not, this will be good for you. You need to go back to being yourself," Sam insisted, unwilling to let Dean back out from something so potentially healing, though risky and stupid as hell.

"I'll go Sam, but for the closure more than the party crashing. I want to say goodbye to her for real, on my terms instead of hers. It's not like they'll be anyone worth seeing at a party exclusively for the dorkestra," Dean announced, sounding more like himself and less like an angst-filled, love-struck teenage boy with each word.

"We can talk later," Sam replied as he slid through the door to his English classroom, leaving Dean with less time than usual to get to his senior English class. He quickened his pace, rushing to get to class in the limited remaining time before the bell. Maybe tonight would be good for him.


	3. Unrequited Love & Imperfect Attendance

"Which class does Castiel have sixth hour?" Michael paced across the floor of the school gym, impatiently waiting on the younger cellist.

"I told him that he had to come help set up for tonight," Anna Milton chimed in from the corner of the room. The freshman had gained Michael's respect through her diligence and violin talents, and he didn't feel the need to question the truth to her statement.

As if sensing the conversation had turned to him, Castiel stumbled through the door, tossing his bag off to the side, then regaining his balance. "Sorry I'm late, Michael," the junior apologized, his face visibly flushed from his trip across the school.

"Thanks for the help, Anna. You can go home now, we just have a few final adjustments to make before the concert tonight," Michael dismissed the redhead before turning to address Castiel. Mild terror clouded Castiel's eyes; he flinched as the door closed behind her.

"So what do you think of Meg?" Michael asked, turning away from Castiel to straighten the row of chairs directly in front of where the orchestra would be performing.

Castiel shrugged, "she's okay, I guess." Michael nodded in response, continuing to straighten the same chair, though Castiel couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"Would you consider, I don't know, going on a date with her?" Michael casually suggested. Though his motives were more his own sanity rather than Castiel's best interest, he attempted to sound genuine. If Castiel went on a date with Meg, Michael wouldn't have to listen to her whine about her crush on him.

Castiel was shocked by the question, though slightly relieved that Michael wasn't angry with him. "She's nice and all, but I've never really been on a date…." Castiel made himself busy twisting the hem of his shirt, avoiding Michael's gaze.

"There are kids in middle school proclaiming their undying love for each other, and you haven't even been on a date?!" Michael seemed both surprised and amused at this fact, though he tried to disguise that. "There are worse girls than Meg to have a first date with."

"I don't know, Michael," Castiel said honestly, regretting that he had agreed to come and help in the first place.

"She's going to ask you out tonight, I think," Michael admitted. He had stopped adjusting the chair, and his full focus was now turned to the cellist, who was growing increasingly uncomfortable. "She's pretty, she's nice, and she likes you, Castiel. What do you have to lose?" Michael delivered his final argument. Now all he could do was cross his fingers and hope that even if he said no, Meg would no longer rant to him about Castiel.

"I mean, I can consider giving her a chance," Castiel started. "It's not fair to lead her on, though." Finding the edge of his shirt severely wrinkled, he released it, attempting to hold his nervous hands still.

With a last adjustment to the less-than-classy metal folding chair, Michael slid on his jacket and threw his bag over his shoulder. "I think we're done," he said, scanning the room for flaws. "See you tonight!" Before Castiel could respond, Michael was out the door.

"Good to see you _actually_ at band, Dean," Lucifer sarcastically announced, rolling his eyes at the green eyed percussionist. A majority of the band students had already exited the room, with the exceptions of Sam, Dean, and Lucifer. Sam was leaning against the wall, checking the time on his phone as he waited for his older brother to drive him home.

"Yeah… I'm really sorry about that…" Dean was aware that he had been acting like a whiny bitch. He was trying to act normal; he was trying to get over it. He really liked her, but he was beginning to realize that it was just that-like. He wasn't in love with her, and maybe Sam was right. There were other girls in this school; he could be just as happy with someone other than Lisa.

"If you're really sorry, you won't miss any more practices," Lucifer stated flatly. Instead of giving Dean a chance to argue over if attending _all _practices was required and listening to a seemingly endless stream of 'what if's, he slipped in his earbuds, ending any conversation he was having with Dean. Dean wasn't in the arguing mood either, choosing to slide his jacket over one arm and grab his bag with the other.

"Ready to go, Sammy?" Dean asked, switching his bag to his right hand so he could put his jacket on properly as he walked towards his brother. Sam nodded, sliding his phone into his back pocket. "Are we still going tonight?" Dean asked, a mischievous grin decorating his face.

"For sure," Sam smiled back, grateful for the seemingly genuine expression that was just so… Dean. Hopefully, this was a sign that his brother was going to go back to the way he was before.

Dean unlocked the Impala, sliding into the driver's seat. Sam followed him, sitting on the passenger side. "Let's get ready to crash a party."


	4. Party Crashing & First Impressions

** A/N aaaaand I am officially OFF Hiatus! I found this nine month old document in my files when I was finishing up a school project for school, and I just kind of decided to start writing again. Sorry for keeping you waiting so long, but I'm hoping to be getting some more updates out soon! I apologize if anything is inconsistent, it's been a while :P**

"So what are we going to say when-if we get caught?" Dean wondered aloud, staring out onto the road as he drove towards Michael's house, where the orchestra would be celebrating their 'successful' concert.

"We won't say anything," Sam laughed from the backseat. Jo Harvelle, the brothers' friend from band, had called shotgun, forcing the tall boy into the back. Dean wasn't in the laughing mood, but he attempted to laugh anyway.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Dean questioned, anxiety about what could potentially happen building up and making him feel sick.

"Who are you and what did you do with Dean Winchester?" Jo laughed. "Where's your spirit?"

"We're fine Dean, loosen up- god, I never thought I'd be the one to say that to you- but seriously, have some fun tonight," Sam demanded, glaring at the back of his brother's head.

"Don't drag us down with your teenage angst," Jo added, lightly smacking Dean's shoulder as they slowed to a stop in front of the red light.

"We're almost there, so you have about two minutes to get over yourself," Sam informed him, rolling his eyes.

"I just feel like something bad's gonna happen tonight," Dean shrugged, unbuckling his seatbelt as the car rolled to a stop a few block away from their destination. He sighed, well aware Sam and Jo were unamused by his irregular attitude, before opening the car door. "Let's go before I change my mind."

"Nice concert tonight!" Michael was standing on his coffee table, Pepsi in hand, grin decorating his face, "_now who's ready to party!" _ He jumped off the coffee table to switch on his stereo, ready to enjoy his Friday night.

Dean was bored. He had spent half the night standing on the wall, watching the dorkestra kids dance to shitty pop music. Jo and Sam had long since disappeared, giving some half-assed excuse about needing to steal all the snacks. He took a sip from his can of Mountain Dew and scanned the room, recognizing surprisingly few of the kids at the party. He figured most of them were just underclassmen or something. One face stuck out to him, however. The guy was gorgous.

Curious to the identity of this particular individual, he took out his phone and discreetly snapped a photo, sending it to Sam.

"Who is this kid?" he typed, attempting to sound somewhat casual.

"No clue." Sam replied a minute later.

Somewhat defeated, Dean shoved his phone in his back pocket, glancing back up at the guy. Damn, that guy was hot.

"Michael!" Gabriel was pissed, and somewhat humiliated. Who did that assface think he was, sneaking into _their_ party? "We have a band kid," he whispered, his voice taking on the venomous tone he reserved only for the worst of the band kids.

"Fuck, is it that Dean kid?" Michael asked, frowning. Gabriel nodded.

"We can't throw him out without causing a scene, and that's probably what those damn band kids want. Let's just leave him alone for now, if he isn't causing trouble." Michael wasn't particularly fond of letting the teen be in his house, but he preferred it to the alternative.

"Dammit Michael, I'm not tolerating that bastard at our party," Gabriel argued.

"You_ will _tolerate him, because we have to be the bigger musical organization," Michael insisted.

"He's disrespecting the orchestra and I won't stand for it!" Gabriel snapped, clenching his fists.

"You're gonna have to stand for it for now; grow up," Michael sighed, turning away from him to go back to the party.

"I'm gonna kick his ass," Gabriel mumbled as he watched Michael leave.

"Hey," Dean had been fighting with himself on whether or not he should approach the attractive boy for the past half hour, and when he had walked past, a greeting had just, slipped out. The boy stopped in front of him, confused.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just uh-" Dean was at a loss for words, "you're just really cute and stuff."

"Hey Cas, Michael's looking for you!" someone called from the kitchen. The boy, Cas, smiled apologetically at Dean.

"Sorry, I should go, but it was nice talking to you," he smiled once more before disappearing into the crowd.

"Michael…. Fuck. He's an orchestra kid," Dean muttered to himself, no longer smiling.

"Hey, Michael, do you know who the guy standing on the living room wall was? Green eyes, kinda tall…" Castiel's voice trailed off when he saw Michael's face.

"Please tell me you don't mean Dean Winchester," Michael said, shaking his head.

"Is he?" Cas didn't want to say it; he didn't want to suggest or think it.

"He's a band kid," Michael confirmed.

"Fuck."

**A/N #2 I'm back! I've been on the site, of course, mostly to talk to the one friend I have here, but I'm back to _writing_, and that's new so yay! Anyway, I've got some more stuff (mostly Harry Potter) planned, but I'll probably be updating this some more soon, and I'm excited to be off hiatus!**


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